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Response to development cooperation report

News item | 18-01-2010

In an initial response to a new report by the Advisory Council on Government Policy (WRR), development minister Bert Koenders said that the WRR’s recommendations provided an opportunity to move forward with the modernisation of development cooperation.

Mr Koenders was speaking following the publication of the report Less Pretension, More Ambition. The government's formal response will be drawn up in the next few months.
Mr Koenders feels it is important that the Council devoted attention to further professionalising the field of development cooperation, and shares its conclusion that a leap forward to a higher level of expertise and experience is needed.

Partner countries

The WRR believes that the Netherlands should concentrate on ten countries, developing a lasting cooperative partnership with each.
In the past 15 years the number of partner countries has fallen from more than 100 to 40 countries. The government plans to terminate the development relationship with seven other countries in its current term, the Minister added. The government will carefully review the WRR's proposal.

Special agency

The WRR concluded that aid should be focused on areas in which the Netherlands is an international leader, such as agriculture and water management. It recommended the creation of a special agency to coordinate the aid activities of experts, instead of aid being allocated by the Netherlands' embassies abroad as at present.
Mr Koenders said that there are many advantages to the current system, but he added that the proposal warrants serious consideration.

The 0.7% norm

In its report the WRR described the development cooperation norm of 0.7% of GNP as a 'political norm' that had been established at international level.
'It has long been the Netherlands' policy to stick to its international commitments,' Mr Koenders commented, adding that he would be 'disappointed if this interesting report by the WRR were to result in a narrow discussion of the 0.7% norm.'